Pass the ice Doc

When it comes to a big game, some prefer to watch it with friends and family, others prefer the quiet comfort of their cave.

Then there is the combo model. Time was the frequent phone calls..."Wow, did you see that or @#$% did you see that?", were the exchange.  After the brief conversation, you hang up, until the next play. Depending on the outcome and the party, the calls either stop or the the analysis begins.

Now we text.

My daughter and grandson dined with my ex so I was responsible to provide updates of the Phillies game. No big deal.

In the first inning, the screaming texts began from a friend whose wife refuses to watch a game with him. His ritual is to put his daughters to bed, grab a beer, sunflower seeds and a cup for the shells.
(I did point out to him they have shelled seeds. I digress.)

He sent a photo of his set up.

The uncharacteristic first batter walk by the good Doc, sent nervous chills down my spine. He looked out of sorts.
Maybe he will settle down as the game continues.


Utley's sloppy play. 


Ok Howard can't hit a ho-ho pitch but isn't he a fast ball hitter were examples of his frustration.

The fifth inning photo of the Jumbo Irish Whiskey bottle spoke volumes.

My daughter and grandson made it safely home which reduced the number of texts.

Lincicum's hair was a topic. Does he get his extensions at the same place you do? he asked.
Probably, but he doesn't add color. When you think about, with his cap off, he looks like Michael Jackson, I replied.


Nope, he is darker. (He is now out of control, but that was funny.)


When the Phillies 8th inning specialist stepped on the mound, my massage therapist and dear friend surfaced. Being a life long Philly phan he was on suicide watch.

"Typical Philly team they are going to find a way to lose," he wailed.

The last time I checked the Phillies actually won it all in 2008. The Phillies have played managed to pull out wins, with injuries and a dreadful offense all season, I countered. 


Well, he was not having it. Even though, Madson, shut down the side.
Heartbreak time was his retort.


In the final inning, Werth's homerun gave us breathing room. The table was set for Victorino to be a hero. A few more insurance runs would have eased the anxiety level for even the most optimistic fan.
We got nothing.

Now my massage therapist is beside himself, and my other friend has grown silent. (I can visualize him forgoing the glass and swigging straight from the bottle.)

Grab your rally towel and remember 2008 Lights out Lidge, I cheered.

I had moved to my bedroom but pacing. (Some people drink, some cuss, I pace and cuss).


Back from what seemed to be a long @#$$% commercial break, Here we go, my MT sighed.


First batter, got him out. (I could feel the good Lidge was on the hill).

One down


Lidge moved uncharacteristically swift last night

Two down
I stopped pacing.

Three down


Whew!

We all said our collective good nights.

One more beer for the wrap up with Ricky Bo for my one friend.

My daughter surfaced...Go Phillies! Sleep well Mom, she instructed.


I will after ice my thumbs....

(We found out after the game, Doc suffered a groin strain. This explains tons. But, he gutted it out five big ugly innings. Unbelievable)

One Win Away

I knew it wouldn't be easy, but GOOOOOOOOOOOD. I really thought we could take them in 5.

The WE meaning the Phils......groan.

Anita Hill

I remember watching in horror the Clarence Thomas hearings. Arlen " I need to be the center of attention" Spector, was the worst offender.

This woman was minding her business when she was drug before the Circus De Congress only to be put on trial.

The fact that Clarence Thomas sits on the Supreme Court is why I did not vote for Arlen nor stay in a room when he speaks.

What is always disturbing about victims of harassment or rape, far too many are accused by particularly women of asking for it. Amazing.

At one point in my career, I was a Labor Administrator and I was responsible for the internal harassment investigations. To a man, the harasser was as attractive as Clarence and felt entitled to a booty call from the victim. Too often, the woman's attire, hair do and attitude were called into question. This was in the late eighties, early nineties.

Sadly, not much has changed.

 A known harasser, Carl Greene,  was recruited to run The Philadelphia Housing Authority. (Well done, Governor Rendell).

Whenever, women ignored his advances that ugly little man, either reassigned them to the Authority's version of Siberia or made life so miserable they quit. An internal venue did not exist to report and investigate claims.

His political reach was such, they were afraid to report their claims to the local EEOC. The claims that were settled, the Board had no knowledge of the claims.

He got a free pass because he turned the program around. He did, at what cost?

As his reign of terror was unfolding on the local newspapers, and his biggest supporter ran for cover, Board Member City Councilwoman was his biggest defender. BRUTAL.

For Mrs. Thomas to track down Ms. Hill and demand an apology makes my brain cease up. Questioning Ms. Hill's motivation renders me speechless.

h/t Trakker @ Neon Gods.

The One that Got Away

Once in a lifetime, the one enters your life. There is just something about the look, the way he moves, his execution. He doesn't wander around the mound, play with himself, call constant timeouts for endless conversations with his catcher.  He prepares before the game, has a plan goes right to the business at hand.

 Ohhhh Baby.

There is no doubt in my mind, Ruben Amaro watched Cliff Lee drop the Yankees like a returning high school star pitching to a little league team;  experienced the same feeling.

As a phan, the rumors abound as to how this baseball romance ended.  Like star crossed lovers, the timing did seem to be right. Lee is a Philly kind of guy. Working class sensibility with the right amount of attitude and charm.  Only Lee and Amaro know the real deal.

He moved on and so did we...sort of.

During interviews throughout the season, Lee speaks longingly of his brief stint in Philly.

Oswalt is nice, but he doesn't have the it factor that stops you in your tracks.

When the one pitches, the game is no longer a backdrop to a novel or other activities. Big Daddy Lee commands your attention.

As the game ended, with a heartbroken sigh, I ponder what could have been and pine after the one that got away.

Maybe, just maybe, Amaro will create a miracle and Big Daddy will return the loving cheers of the Philly Phaithful.

What the hell, a girl can dream.....

Palin, O'Donnell, & Favre's Penis

Power to the Penis?

Budapest, Prague & Berlin

Budapest, Prague & Berlin it sounds like a European law firm or a big hair Eighties musical group.

The next skate, bike trip is going to cover these cities with a possible stop in Putin's Russia.

These cities were never on my bucket list, but the same team who organized the Canada trip is organizing this little adventure. Our hotels were nice and very welcoming to our eclectic group of travellers..

The group travelled well together and the drama was kept to a minimum.

My only issue with my last trip to Europe were the bathrooms. Ok, it was a big issue.

Even as a history major, my interest was our young Republic. So I know very little about this part of the world and what I know isn't exactly positive.

As I began my research, I shot my friend who invited me the following text: "Are there any black people in Prague?"

He quickly responded "Ah about the same number in Budapest."

After laughing, I figured it will be the same number in Montana.

What the hell, why not?

Ouch

I fell in love with football when Lynn Swann was running for passes not political office.

My struggle with this sport is the violence. The legal hit to LeSean Jackson was frightening to watch. The kid was out cold for two minutes. Not good.

Maybe I am paying more attention, but it seems to getting worse.

Unlike the other sports, the NFL has a short season. Eighteen weeks. Weddings, parties and even funerals are planned around a favorite team.

Many fans, like me rarely go to the game, but game is a backdrop to my fall activities. Even in my Mom's dementia altered mind, she is still appalled about a Christmas dinner scheduled around an Eagles games. Dessert was served during the game.

If all of the football fans voted with the same passion our Congress would look much different.

The players are bigger, faster, stronger.

Cris Carter recommended a bigger field which will slow the game.

It's a start.

OR, fans like me stop supporting it...

Pitchers are ball players too

How often is the spot in the batting line up for the pitcher is an automatic out? Well, our boy Roy O was not having it.

He had a good first at bat. When Chase's bat did not produce a hit, he reached for Rollin's bat which had failed the owner throughout the season.

In the 2008 series, Brett Myers' unthinkable at-bat was a unbelievable turning point in the post series.

If the Phillies win the World Series this year, phans will look to the site of this not so fast red streak, defying all the rules and sliding home. The Bank rocked.

When the coach of the year strode out on the mound in the eighth inning to relieve a Oswalt for a job well done, my guess was Oswalt was not having it.

Again, defying the rules, Manuel left him to complete the eighth inning. The boys left me and all of Philadelphia breathless.

Lesson here.........screw the rules.

Memo to Hamels, no low inside fast balls to Mr. #$% Ross......

I sure hope that boy has bodyguards: Radigan Rant

It is worth the 10 minutes...

Sestak ad

Finally an ad targeting a non-political junkie.

Scary Times

With the fall comes the race for the World Series (Go Phillies), fall elections and evidence of the arrival of Halloween.

The folks behind the masks do not scare me as much as those who have a platform on FAUX news and the need for the MSM to give angry white people a voice.

The Republicans pull out all stops when they lose power. This started when the Hick from Arkansas was elected to their surprise, not once but twice.

Now my God, there is a Negro in the White House this is just untenable.

You can't change the mind of angry person.

But there are those who only sort of pay attention, indifferent toward the voting process, with the right information can be swayed.

In 2006, several of my close friends and I got off the sidelines and got very involved in politics.

We became committee people; wrote checks for progressive candidates and hit the streets for GOTV. It reached a crescendo in 2008.

Silly us, we actually thought we did something.

With the blatant refusal to accept the legitimacy of this Presidency and a ball-less Congress, we have returned to 2008 fighting form.

We have shot at knockimg off Gerlach and Toomey. Onorato has been painfully absent on this side of the state.

He needs the critical five county suburban area to win. It has been trending blue for years.

It has been the fear of the alternative that has driven most activists versus embracing a candidate..Sestak comes to mind.

The voter indifference will be the death to our Republic. Let's hope more folks show up on November 2, and stay engaged or Frank Rich will be right.....again.

Ross, slays a Doctor

The first low and inside pitch to Mr. @#$ Ross was crushed. Being down 1-0 zero is no problem.

The second low and inside pitch to Mr. @#$ Ross crushed the hearts of the Philly Phanactics.

Brutal.

Nightmare is Over

The Chief Marketing Officer was terminated. After three demotions and doing nothing but making my life miserable for FIVE years my nightmare is over.

Thirty days ago, I was reviewing the numbers with my CFO, I found that we were missing about 100K in revenue. When I questioned him about it, I found out that the CMO received ALL of it.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUK????

For the past two years, I lived on a plane servicing these crazy ass clients. Words can not capture, the various in flight scenarios and endless hours spent going to, being and leaving airports.

To compound the problem, all of my time and expenses came out of my bottom line.

Oh it gets better.....

My financial Einstein gave me some bullshit reason as to why they did it and suggested that I work it out with the CMO. I reminded him that THEY didn't bother to discuss this nice little arrangement with me when he stole the money.

Slightly aggravated, he that there was nothing he could do about and take it up with Corporate.

Game On.

I immediately called my boss of the hour and explained the situation. The next thing I knew, I had the President on the phone. He quickly reminded me that he tried to take this gentleman out but was protected by boss number four.

Yeah I know. "What impact would his departure have with your clients?" he asked.

Tersely, the same impact you would have....

There was silence.....(At this point, I really didn't give a rat's behind about my tone).

Then he started laughing.

He promised to resolve the situation.

Before I could call the financial Einstein, my boss was on the phone to him demanding an explanation of why he handed over all of this revenue.

Ten minutes later....

FE was on the phone. "Wow, remind me not to piss you off, I just hung from your boss, I can't believe you called him."

Still beyond pissed, I gave him an earful and informed him that I also spoke with the President and I don't mean Obama.

" I wonder if I'm going to be forced to retire because of this?" he said softly.

Having had the shits of the grumpy old guys club, I was not very sympathetic.

You know dear, I have spent my entire career here, cleaning the mess you boys created. Enough already...

With that, I hung up and went into action.

I called the team together, reminded them that none of us worked for the CMO and any further requests from him to be ignored. I deactivated his pass key and told them that if actually showed up in our office to call me first. If I wasn't there call the local police and have him escorted from the building.

I thought about calling him or sending him an e-mail but then why bother.

He prided himself in being a feelingless Zombie. "You know I scored 5 on the Myers Briggs test in the emotional section," he would remind me.

The fact that because of this drain and additional theft of revenue, crippled our numbers and the folks who actually serviced our clients would not see a raise any time soon; would not bother him in the least. My team needed to work. He was sticking around for so that he could establish a legacy. Yeah, sounds like Bush. A history of tone deafness and failure.

To compound the problem, he rails against entitlements, but somehow because he was a card carrying member of the old boys club he was entitled to six figure income.

Brutal.

So what's a girl to do?

I did the one thing that I knew would make him crazy.......

I ignored him.

I did not return calls or emails. When he called around to other employees, they recognized his number and with absolute glee, they ignored him to.

One day he called from a different number and got my receptionist. He asked her to go get me.

She did as requested.

She interrupted a meeting.

"CMO is on the phone, he said he would hold for you," she advised.

I told her look, I am busy but this is not your war. You can tell him the truth, I'm busy and I will always be busy. Or you can just hang up.

She smiled and opted to be nice, she informed him that I was in a meeting.

He said I think she is ignoring me. She said nothing.

It took two weeks and the drawing of straws to determine, who was actually going to do the deed.

My boss called and asked how often does he come into my office. Ah never. What about the DC office? Less than never. What does he do all day? clearly befuddled.

Really? I responded do we really want to travel down that path?

For the first time in months the team of DC saw the CMO who just assumed that he there to discuss the 2011 budget.

The arrogant bastard was actually surprised. And had the temerity to question his severance. He was expecting 50% of his pay for two years. Well that package is for real producers. I guess he did not read the provision of revenue "initiated".

We are preparing the division for another sale, and they will probably throw some more money at him to avoid a suit.

A painful chapter of my life is drawing to a close. I am so ready to move on. If I can save some jobs in the sale, I will be thrilled. If not, I no longer care.

When I shared this story with my massage therapist, he just assumed he would see an immediate loss in revenue....

The money saved on massages will fund my next European vacation.

Very cool.

Note to Self

...the next time you have the opportunity to reach out and touch the POTUS, check the batteries in my camera....

Steven Slater Employee of the Year

I spend a ton of time on planes due to the nature of my gig. As sure as I have a healthy backside, there is always at least one crying child and that passenger.

Most of the time the flight team, are a gang of folks just trying to do their jobs. If a lie about a delay is told, it is usually done by the ground crew. The airborne team are usually pleasant folks and even funny. Southwest is the airline I try to fly.

The well dressed self-important jack ass that has to be told everything at least three times. Turn off your phone, yeah even that app. Put your tray up. Can you please stay out of the aisle.

Please stay seated until we arrive at the terminal....

When this story caught my eye yesterday, I said GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!

I met two of my dearest friends for dinner and got the silly giggles relaying the story.

I think it was a tad over the top and not necessarily a good use of resources to send a SWAT team to arrest him.

While they are making arrests, Slater should file an assault charge against that passenger who struck him in the head removing his bag BEFORE the plane arrived at the terminal.

THAT Jackass violated an assortment federal charges. He should be arrested too.

If I ever encounter Mr. Slater I'll buy him a beer....

Give Slater a standing ovation!

Race, Reaction, Responsibility

What happened to Ms. Sherrod last week was brutal. I am more appalled by the White House and the NAACP.

I expect zippo, squatta from Fox or the the uber conservative wing of the country.

What I expect from the NAACP and my BLACK President is fairness.

A rookie supervisor would have slowed down the events, conducted a investigation BEFORE asking for this woman's resignation.

I was expecting better. I as a black citizen DEMAND better.

NAACP was once a fine organization, your age is showing and it has not been graceful.

You wonder why your relevance is questioned.

Mr. President,

There are folks who will NEVER accept your presidency, EVER. You reach out and they punch you. YOU have no more cheeks...

Every single freakin' time race becomes an issue YOU end up apologizing. Stop it.

The cops were heavy handed in handling Professor Gates. What happened to Ms. Sherrod was terrible.

If you did not have a secret service detail, YOU would be stopped for no particular reason just like the rest of us on a daily basis.

What happened last week shows that we are not a post racial society, yet...

Like anyone else important in my life, I love you enough to call you out.

You have done great things in 18 months but you are doing a terrible job of messaging. That crew in the Senate has been bruuuutaaaaal.

Do you really think the Senate will do any better if we lose the critical majority in November?

The DINOs have been a pain in the ass.

You NEED to get over yourself and do better.

Ms Sherrod you really should sue Andrew Breitbart just for sport!!!

Random Act of Kindness or Sally does the Trail

During the course of being pummeled with permission by my massage therapist we talk about everything from current events to our families. My cycling activities are always on the agenda.

My pre-work rides are generally uneventful. For the most part, the folks you encounter speak, with a nod or a wave and they are on their way. Cyclists, joggers and dog walkers are the norm.

Skaters are in the minority. So on an beautiful morning, the tall very fair redhead skater stood out.

As we approached each other, I waved but she flagged me down.

She looked harmless so I stopped. She did not appear to be in distress but I asked if she was ok anyway..

Oh I am fine she responded. What can I do for you? I countered.

"I know this is a weird request, you look safe, will you put suntan lotion on my back?"

It was an odd request, but what the hell I did it.

No big deal. Right?????

I thought it was a funny story.

I shared this with my male massage therapist. His immediate reaction was "Reaaaaallly" in a way to suggest something more interesting should have followed.

"Then what happened?" he asked with a chuckle.

What do you mean then what happened? I completed my ride.

Then it hit me.

"Oh my God! How did a simple random act of kindness turn into Sally does the Trail...

Are you kidding me????

That thought NEVER crossed my mind.

So he challenged me to take a survey of my friends. Well I did, I asked 6 females and and 6 guys.

The ladies responds ranged from oh how nice to eeeeeew.

The guys to man were in camp of my massage therapist..

Further confirmation, I simply do not understand the male species...

Still Raining

I normally spend a good portion of my weekends on my bike. I am finally up to 100 miles per week. I ride along the trail system. I finally made it to Green Lane..a 35 mile round trip.. very cool. I get up early and try to get at least 20 in before work.

I have no desire to compete with cars.

The riding has been incredible therapy for my job and the challenges of being in the sandwich generation.

The rain has cooled things down from the 100 degree weather but after last winter...I have zero complaints about the heat...but the rain is a nice change...

Gilbert, a New Member of the First Wive's Club

Decision 2010 had zippo to do with a political race. LBJ was the main focus of the sports media specifically ESPN.

Just like Favre's retirement of the week, LBJ Decision was media coverage on steriods. Well for those who complained, unless your remote was broken, you were not forced to watch this announcement.

Was Geraldo the producer?

disclaimer time: I did not watch it.

As far as the Cav's owner's reaction, well it was just silly. Chris Broussard has a nice piece.

Athletes are moved around like chess pieces. How often do they find out their fate by a reporter?

Well if LBJ was everything the Cav's owner said that he was, who enabled this behavior.

LBJ picked another and I suppose Gilbert is feeling like a first wife. Gave all that he had only to be discarded for a younger, prettier love.

Corbett calls unemployed lazy

Where does Corbett live?

I have seen far too many resumes from an older suburban educated workforce who have been crushed by an economy created from folks who look like Corbett.

My industry simply does not replace the positions of departed employees. Fear of regulation has caused many employers to sit on their cash reserves and pile work on folks who are grateful to have a gig.

I think the unemployed should show up en masse to his offices and show him the faces of the unemployed.

I think he will be surprised at what he sees.

He is a jackass.